The labour department issued a showcause notice to the developer of the under-construction building in Sector 65 where two labourers fell to their death and another suffered grievous injuries on Thursday.
Department officials, who visited the site for an inspection, sought the details of the three workers and asked the developer — Advance India Projects Limited (AIPL) — to compensate them in keeping with the guidelines.
On Thursday evening, while one of the labourers fell 19 floors after the concrete platform on which he was standing gave away, the two others were on the second floor and fell along with him.
Officials in the department said a team that inspected the site was preparing a report on the alleged lack of safety measures and planning to seal the project as well.
District labour commissioner Ajay Pal told TOI that the workers were entitled to a double compensation — one under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Act, which will be paid by the labour welfare board, and another under the Employees Compensation Act, which the employer has to pay. “The compensation has to be handed out in a month,” he added.
AIPL said it would pay out a total compensation of around Rs 32 lakh to the two labourers who died and bear the entire cost of the treatment of the one who suffered injuries.
“We will pay compensation in keeping with the Employees Compensation Act. One of the workers will get around Rs 15.8 lakh while the other will be handed out Rs 16.8 lakh. The families of both the workers will be given demand drafts on Monday. We will also bear the cost of the treatment of the worker who is in hospital. If the government issues a disability certificate, we will hand him compensation as applicable,” said Manoj Kumar, who handles the legal affairs of AIPL. The families of the two workers who died will get an additional Rs 2.5 lakh each from the labour welfare board under the BOCW Act.
TOI has learnt that officials of the industrial safety and health wing of the labour department, who inspected the construction site on Friday, has found gross irregularities. Officials said a notice to seal the site could be issued on Monday.
“We are finalising our report. Safety norms at the site were grossly compromised. A safety net was placed on the 7th floor and not at regular intervals. Had that been done, the workers wouldn’t have lost their lives. We are also testing the strength of the safety net that was present. We noticed that load testing of the lift was not done either. There are other faults as well and a detailed report will be sent to Chandigarh by Sunday. A notice will be issued to the developer and the site is most likely to be sealed,” said Vijayveer Dhariwal, the assistant director of the labour department’s industrial safety and health wing.
The builder denied the charges of safety lapse. “It was a man-made accident. Workers were in a rush to complete the work and go home. They did not pay heed to the safety norms and overloaded the platform. It collapsed because of their negligence,” Kumar said.
